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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I dunno, I didn't get sucked into this one. Vowell herself sounded mildly bored reading it. Maybe this is my own projection, but ... eh.
This is a hard book to review. I had seen Sarah Vowell on the Daily Show, and found her snarky historical commentary interesting and humorous, so I was excited when I found this book at the library on unabridged audio. However, I really struggled with the audio at first. Vowell doesn't exactly have a dynamic or melodious voice, and while it's very distinctive, and she's better than anyone else would be at delivering the personal nuances and opinions distributed so liberally throughout this book, it took me quite awhile into the book to develop an appreciation for that or comfort with her voice.
Also, while I found the history she recounted mesmerizing as well as horrifying, I found that the way that the author's experiences and opinions were an obvious part of everything she wrote could be frustrating and distracting. For me, her attitude towards Christians was very offputting at times--not that she didn't have reason to criticize the missionaries in question in this bit of history, but simply because they don't represent all Christians (even if too many of them) and I hate hearing that snide tone from (other) intellectuals about people of my faith. But that's personal. So I was inserting myself and my opinions and prejudices into the reading of the story as much as she was into the writing of it.
The other thing that I found distracting was the celebrity voice actors reading the parts of various of the historical players in the story. Not that they weren't good at what they did--Edward Norton sounded delightfully uptight as one of the leading missionaries, and Keanu Reeves was especially touching as a wistful Hawaiian scholar's voice. But the way that the quotations were incorporated into the text made for jarring transitions from exposition into quotations most of the time. And not all the quotations were read by actors, so sometimes I took a few minutes to realize who was speaking.
All of these gripes aside, this book was amazing. Amazing in the sense that it grabbed me and MADE me learn about American imperialism, Christianity's part in it, Hawaiian carelessness, and how all of those factors worked together to cause events that were in so many ways awfully tragic for the Hawaiian people and their beloved islands. I felt frustration with the Hawaiians and rage at the condescending white people, including the pompous missionaries. Frustration that throughout so much of history, Christians have allowed their culture to hijack the purity of our faith and make it repugnant to so much of the thoughtful world. These weren't pleasant emotions, but they were strong, and they caused me to not only really hear, but also to burn the facts into my brain. And they reflect that, regardless of methods of writing and narration, Sarah Vowell did a fantastic job getting the story across to her readers. I'm not sure I'm in a hurry to read more of her quirkily dark historical writing any time soon, cute nephew Owen's quotations not withstanding. But I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the history of Hawaiia and of American imperialism.
Also, while I found the history she recounted mesmerizing as well as horrifying, I found that the way that the author's experiences and opinions were an obvious part of everything she wrote could be frustrating and distracting. For me, her attitude towards Christians was very offputting at times--not that she didn't have reason to criticize the missionaries in question in this bit of history, but simply because they don't represent all Christians (even if too many of them) and I hate hearing that snide tone from (other) intellectuals about people of my faith. But that's personal. So I was inserting myself and my opinions and prejudices into the reading of the story as much as she was into the writing of it.
The other thing that I found distracting was the celebrity voice actors reading the parts of various of the historical players in the story. Not that they weren't good at what they did--Edward Norton sounded delightfully uptight as one of the leading missionaries, and Keanu Reeves was especially touching as a wistful Hawaiian scholar's voice. But the way that the quotations were incorporated into the text made for jarring transitions from exposition into quotations most of the time. And not all the quotations were read by actors, so sometimes I took a few minutes to realize who was speaking.
All of these gripes aside, this book was amazing. Amazing in the sense that it grabbed me and MADE me learn about American imperialism, Christianity's part in it, Hawaiian carelessness, and how all of those factors worked together to cause events that were in so many ways awfully tragic for the Hawaiian people and their beloved islands. I felt frustration with the Hawaiians and rage at the condescending white people, including the pompous missionaries. Frustration that throughout so much of history, Christians have allowed their culture to hijack the purity of our faith and make it repugnant to so much of the thoughtful world. These weren't pleasant emotions, but they were strong, and they caused me to not only really hear, but also to burn the facts into my brain. And they reflect that, regardless of methods of writing and narration, Sarah Vowell did a fantastic job getting the story across to her readers. I'm not sure I'm in a hurry to read more of her quirkily dark historical writing any time soon, cute nephew Owen's quotations not withstanding. But I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the history of Hawaiia and of American imperialism.
Not as good as some of her previous books but, as always, a solid audiobook.
Not a huge fan. I like Vowell's radio work a lot, but her style doesn't seem to translate to the written word for me. I wish there were more structure. I didn't enjoy the style/tone and it was just not fun! :(
Vowell's signature style is mostly evident here, in her tale of (mostly) Hawaii, and how 1898 was the defining year for the U.S. in terms of an empire-building mindset. Although her humorous asides still pepper the book, it's much less peppery than, say, Assassination Vacation.
I recently watched an Anthony Bourdain episode of No Reservations on Hawaii on the Travel Channel that had more insight into my state than this mis-mash of Puritan envy and pointless anecdotes from Sarah Vowell. She does funny radio but lousy books. If your interested in Hawaii get another book.
Sarah Vowell is to popular history as Mary Roach is to popular science... a true gift. Depending on your historical interests your mileage will vary with each book, but as a person that isn’t much into American history, I find Vowell a breezy pleasure to read.
This is my least favorite of the Sarah Vowell I have read so far. I thought the topic would be interesting, but I feel like her signature humor and personal insights didn't come through as much as they did in Assassination Vacation (which is my fave so far). There was more just telling of facts and not as many personal anecdotes. It was still informative and is maybe more of a 2.5, but I just wanted to distinguish it as not as good as her others.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I love Sarah Vowell’s blunt and witty take on history, but this one wasn’t my favorite of hers. It’s a fascinating history that I didn’t know much about, but it’s also quite dense and can be a little hard to keep track of. I still definitely recommend it for all you history buffs!